Ryan James
Ryan James was a supporting character from the TV series Smallville. He was a young boy who possessed an uncanny ability to read the minds of others. He appears in two episodes, the Season 1 episode "Stray" and the Season 2 episode "Ryan". He was portrayed by Ryan Kelley. History Stray In this episode, Ryan is introduced as an unwilling accomplice to criminal couple James Gibson and Debra Burch. His mother had died and since then his stepfather James had remarried to Debra and the pair of them exploited Ryan's telepathy to commit robberies. After watching his stepfather murder his latest mark, Ryan tried to run away, but ran right into the path of Martha Kent's car. Martha picked up Ryan and brought him to Smallville Hospital where he soon recovered, but he feigned amnesia in order to stay with the Kents. During the time he stayed in Smallville, Ryan would become very close to Clark, becoming the "little brother" that Clark always wished he had. He also met with Clark's friends, though made mention of some of their personal secrets when around them due to his telepathy. He also read Martha's mind and discovered Clark's secret through her, but promised never to tell anyone. He also wasn't able to read Clark's thoughts, likely owed to the fact that Clark wasn't human. Ryan's criminal step-parents eventually tracked him down and coerced him to come back with them, threatening to murder the Kents if he refused. They force him to help them crack a password to Lex Luthor's laptop so they can steal from his account, but Ryan gives them the wrong password and attempts to flee, running into a nearby bowling alley. James goes after him, but Clark manages to stop him and saves Ryan. After the ordeal, Ryan is picked up by his aunt and goes to live with her. Before leaving the Kent farm, he warns Clark to be careful around Lex. Ryan In this episode, Ryan is revealed to be a prisoner at Summerholt Research Facility in Metropolis where doctors are conducting experiments on his telepathic abilities. After tricking the doctor into leaving the room, Ryan managed to briefly get free and made a phone call to Clark, telling him where he was before the doctors caught on to his deception. A day later, Clark stages a one-man jailbreak and rescues Ryan from Summerholt. Though the doctor who experimented on Ryan attempted to take him back legally, his efforts were blocked thanks to Lex. For a time, the Kents were allowed to take temporary custody of Ryan, but during this time Ryan fell ill. After being examined at hospital, it was revealed that Ryan had a severe brain tumour. This tumour was what was causing Ryan's telepathic abilities, but it was also killing him. Though Clark managed to find an expert neurosurgeon to help Ryan, this ultimately only delayed the inevitable. Clark was at a loss as to what else he could do, but Ryan said that he just wanted to spend his last days with his friend. Some time later, Clark took Ryan up on a hot-air balloon ride, which Ryan enjoyed because it got him away from people, sparing him the pain of the multitude of thoughts he detected from those around him. Death Eventually, Ryan's brain tumour killed him, though the moment of his death isn't shown. The last image of him to be seen is of him hugging Clark in the hot-air balloon. Following this scene, Clark is shown in the hospital, staring sadly at Ryan's empty bed. Category:TV Characters Category:TV Deaths Category:Children Category:Superman Characters Category:Smallville Category:Tragic Deaths Category:Death by Sickness Category:Superhumans